Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Dexter

I don't get Showtime, but for some reason, I get Showtime on demand for free. While I might technically be committing a crime by doing so, I have been using the opportunity to watch the new show Dexter. Michael C. Hall (from Six Feet Under) plays a serial killer who only kills other serial killers.

In brief: it is awesome. I should probably preface this by saying that my feelings about serial killers are similar to Holt's feelings about nuclear Armageddon. I wouldn't want to encounter one in real life, but I can't get enough of fictional portrayals of them.

As revealed in flashbacks, Dexter was an abused foster kid who was taken in by a cop. After he kills some animals, his father realizes that he is a sociopath, and -- gradually -- channels his urge to kill into killing people who have gotten away with murder. In the present, Dexter is a crime scene analyst for the Miami police. By night, he hunts down people who have gamed the system to continue killing. Meanwhile, another serial killer seems to have figured out Dexter's secret and is engaging him an elaborate cat and mouse game, featuring dead prostitutes and severed body parts. Since Dexter is a sociopath -- fundamentally unable to form emotional connections to other people -- he is thrilled with the idea of having this kind of connection with another person. Hall is really good. He still has that tightly wound quality, but it is really fitting for someone who has to fake pretty much all of his interactions with other people.